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Review: Trevor Noah in top form at the Palace Theatre

Steve Barnes| on
December 10, 2017

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 20: Host of The Daily Show Trevor Noah speaks ahead of former U.S. President Barack Obama at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event on September 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775046965 less

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 20: Host of The Daily Show Trevor Noah speaks ahead of former U.S. President Barack Obama at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event on September 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo ... more

Photo: Yana Paskova

Photo: Yana Paskova

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NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 20: Host of The Daily Show Trevor Noah speaks ahead of former U.S. President Barack Obama at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event on September 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775046965 less

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 20: Host of The Daily Show Trevor Noah speaks ahead of former U.S. President Barack Obama at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event on September 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo ... more

Photo: Yana Paskova

Review: Trevor Noah in top form at the Palace Theatre

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Albany

Trevor Noah, the whip-smart but amiable host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" for the past two years, moved from his native South Africa to the United States at the suggestion of a friend who lived in California. But he waited a few months after the invite.

"I didn't want to leave Africa and go to America with a white man," Noah said Saturday night on the stage of the Palace Theatre in front of an adoring, sold-out crowd. As the implication settled in and laughter grew, he paused, then said, "I've read history books."

It's almost a throwaway joke, but its subtlety and delivery made it emblematic of Noah's witty, engaging set during his first major-stage appearance in the Capital Region. Over the course of 75 minutes, during which he didn't mention Donald Trump until the final half-hour, Noah exhibited the active, ranging intelligence and easy charm that define his appeal. Only an unnecessarily extended bit about Mexican food and diapers seemed facile, beneath his talents. He confessed to being baffled by the term "wife-beater," wondering if the behavior was so widespread that it earned its own garment and asking, "What else do you have in your laundry basket — pedophile pants?"

Americans seem more willing today to exhibit their bigotry in public, Noah observed, whereas in the recent past, "People treated racism like farts — something done in private, at home."

To his foreign-born ear, Southern accents are like a comedic put-on, Noah said: "Every single time (Southerners) speak, it sounds like someone's playing a banjo in their mouth." He demonstrated the sound, then amplified the joke with this: "Two guys arguing in Kentucky sounds like a Mumford & Sons concert."

People from other countries make America richer in flavor, literally and metaphorically, he said: "No immigrants, no spice." He went on to speculate that boring food led Europeans to leave their native countries: "A life without spice was so hard that it made people sail around the world to find it," he said, imagining an explorer "eating some white lady's cooking until he's like, 'I can't take this anymore!'"

While Noah isn't an especially accurate mimic — his Trump and Obama voices are recognizable but barely qualify as impressions — he's gifted vocally, as evidenced by his banjo argument and a bit about trap music. To him, the hip-hop subgenre's vocalists sound like "a toddler complaining about life."

More Information

Comedy review

Trevor Noah with Angelo Lozada

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Palace Theatre, 19 Clinton Ave., Albany

Length: Lozada, 20 minutes; Noah, 75 minutes

The crowd: Sold out, largely young and enthusiastic

Noah's audience, which seemed largely in line with him politically, was especially appreciative of his Trump material. "He strikes me as someone who could quit," Noah said, adding in Trump's voice, "Unlike most presidents, I did it in half the time, folks." He later derided the seriousness of Trump's interest in being president, saying, "We could have just bought him a Fisher-Price President's Set."

The Trump presidency reminds Noah of a "giant asteroid headed toward Earth shaped like a penis. I think I'm going to die, but I know I'm going to laugh." But, for him, the president is a symptom, not a cause. "I hope we don't blame Trump for everything that's wrong with America," Noah said. "Trump didn't make America racist. America's racism made Trump."

Noah's regular opener, Angelo Lozada, started the show with 20 minutes of pedestrian material. He began with a couple of jokes about downtown Albany being small, gave a shout-out to McGeary's pub across the street and within two minutes was doing crowd work, asking questions of those in the front rows and riffing on their jobs and relationships. If he was intent on setting the bar low to allow Noah to shine, he succeeded.